Reasons For You
by MydnytAngel
Summary: Damon goes to apologize to Elena after the bachelor auction, but will she let him?
1. Chapter 1

Elena trembled before closing the stolen cell phone. Stefan rushed her home right after the strange guy jumped in front of an oncoming car, and she made up an excuse of being tired so he would leave. She wanted to be alone, handle this herself. Except now she knew that her mother was alive, and didn't want her. It made her think of Damon and his response of "she sucks". She couldn't believe how much of an ass Damon had been today. She thought things between them would smoothen out, and they could really be friends, but he had ruined that tonight.

She lost sleep over the last week, worrying about Damon, wondering if he was okay. She barely saw him after the night in the woods, so she knew he was taking it hard the first few days and she had wanted to be there for him, but he hadn't answered her texts or calls so she left him alone. Stefan didn't have much information for her, just that Damon was drunk all the time and didn't want to talk to anyone, so she made no effort to go see him on her own. She thought she'd make it worse.

There was a tap on her window, and she could have growled. She told Stefan to leave her alone tonight, but he didn't always get her hints. She pushed the window up and glared at the man on her window sill. "What are you doing here?" she asked, hatred dripping from her voice. The nerve he had to show up here.

"Can we talk?" he asked in a soft voice, his bright eyes staring directly into hers.

"I really don't want to see you," she said, folding her arms. "There's nothing left to say." He had done plenty of talking earlier tonight, in front of the whole town. How could he be proud of the things he had done? Was there no sympathy or compassion in him?

"Elena," Damon said, faintly. "I didn't know she was your mother."

"That makes it okay?" Elena asked in horror as she shook her head and paced around her room. "You just don't care about anyone that you hurt." She thought Damon had a soft spot for her, so she never expected him to be as hurtful as he had been tonight.

Finally he slipped into her room and his eyes turned hard as they pierced her. "That's bullshit," he growled. "It's been a long time since I've hurt you."

She didn't think she had ever heard him curse like that, and she knew she had hit a nerve somewhere. "She's my mother Damon," Elena said in a heated voice. Was he really this blind that he couldn't see how upset she was? She was glad she was home alone and didn't have to alert her entire household about her issues with Damon.

"Who did not want you!" he flared. "She gave you up to be a vampire and that isn't my fault."

She snapped and before she could think her fist swung in the direction of his jaw. She was somewhat pleased when his head snapped to the side. "I felt so sorry for you when we found out Katherine wasn't in the tomb," she said. "I was worried all the time and for what? For you to turn around become some big jerk that everyone says you are."

Damon rubbed his cheek and sighed. "I know you're angry," he said. "And you have every right to be, but you can't place all the blame on me. This is how I am Elena. Have no reason to give a rat's ass about anyone anymore."

"Even me?" she asked softly. "I thought we were friends." She hated how pitiful she sounded, trying to figure out when she had gotten on his bad side. When did he decide that she didn't matter?

He raised an eyebrow. "Since when?"

"You said you had fun in Atlanta," she pointed out. "That it was real." She would never forget that he rescued her from her wrecked car, and took her away from her problems. She had fun in Atlanta, and she'd never be able to just brush off the fact that he hadn't compelled her, or that he almost died on that trip.

"I did say that," he said, folding his arms. "And I meant it. And if you had kept me in the loop about this whole thing, we wouldn't be fighting about it now."

She had no argument for that. Only Stefan knew that Isobel was her mother and both of them had kept it from Damon. "Do you know where she is?" Elena whispered. "I talked to her on this phone that I stole earlier."

Damon shook his head, and she could see his muscles relaxing slightly. "I honestly don't know," he said. "I haven't seen her a long time and I know she's connected to Katherine in some way. I'm still putting the pieces together. Elena… you know how dangerous it is for you to keep digging into this."

"I deserve to know," she said, shaking her head. "She gave me up. She owes me answers." And she certainly had a lot of questions, like who her father was. It wasn't going to be a walk in the park to talk to her mother.

"You're very stubborn," he said, heading back to her window. "I warned you."

"Damon?" she asked, coming to her sill, watching him make crouch on her roof, ready to jump off. "We're friends right?" She just had to know what they were to each other so she could deal with it. If they weren't friends, she needed him to be clear about it, but if they were, she wanted to know that she could count on him.

He sighed and met her gaze. "You're the only one that I trust Elena and I would never hurt you on purpose. Never again. So what do you call it?"

"Friends," she answered firmly leaning her head against the side of her window. It was nice to hear how he felt about her, and that he trusted her, and only her. She was working really hard to not betray him again like she had in the past. She didn't want to rock his already fragile boat.

"Alright then," he said. "Goodnight Elena." And he jumped off her roof and disappeared into the night.

Elena sat in front of her laptop trying to find out more information on Isobel, which really wasn't a whole lot. She texted both Damon and Stefan; only hearing from her boyfriend and it bothered her to hear that Damon never came home and she wondered where he went after he left her rooftop. Her stomach was in knots and she called Damon to leave him a voicemail to call her back as soon as he could. She left her room, needing to go do something to keep herself busy. She headed over to the boarding house, her brows furrowing when she saw Damon's car in the driveway. Stefan hadn't noticed?

Maybe Damon had just gotten home, but she couldn't ignore the horrible feeling she had in her stomach. She ran her fingers through her hair and headed up the walk, but paused when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. She peered in the front passenger side window of the Damon's car and gasped. "Damon," she whispered, trying to open the locked door. His face was a collage of blood and dirt and he wasn't responding to her. "Stefan!"

Her boyfriend joined her a few seconds later. "Oh my god," he said. "Stand back, Elena." He moved her behind him before smashing his elbow through the window, allowing them access to the beaten vampire.

Elena stared in horror as Stefan lifted his brother from the car. She slid one of Damon's limp arms around her shoulders and they gradually made their way inside. "He needs blood," she said, her foot on the bottom step, ready to start the long trip up the one flight of stairs. "I'll clean him up while you go to the hospital and get some human blood." She had never seen Damon like this, unresponsive. He always had some comment to make, and she knew if he was awake, he'd be snarking at Stefan to put him down. She knew it was bad if he couldn't figure out where he was.

"Elena," Stefan said, shaking his head once at the top of the staircase. "I can't leave you alone with him when he's like this."

"You're brother is dying," Elena said furiously. "Get over whatever it is. He needs us." With that, she took the rest of Damon's weight and headed to the bathroom, relieved to hear the front door close. She knew Stefan was worried about Damon's hunger taking over and then she would be caught in the crossfire, but she knew Damon wouldn't hurt her. Damon wouldn't want Stefan taking care of him either. With care, she lowered him to the floor and turned on the water of the shower. She stripped to her jeans and tank and removed his jacket and shirt along with their shoes. "Damon?" she whispered, stroking his cheek.

"Elena?" he moaned, his head moving to the side. She almost sobbed in relief when she heard her name fall from his lips. At least he knew she was here with him.

"Come on," she said, and with him semi conscious, she was able to help him into the tub. She washed the blood away from his face and hair and her fingers moved over the solid plains of his chest, seeing two holes in his abdomen. "What happened?" She felt sick, but she tried to ignore it, knowing that wasn't what Damon needed right now.

"Got shot," he said, catching his balance as he placed his hands on her shoulders. "They hurt like a bitch too."

Bullets didn't kill vampires, but that didn't mean they hurt any less. "You're going to be fine," she said, watching the rest of the blood wash away from his skin. She turned the water off and helped him out of the shower to dry off. "Can you change?" She had imagined Damon naked many times, but to actually experience it, was a whole other story.

He steadied himself and blinked rapidly. "Yeah," he answered.

Elena turned her back to give him a minute of privacy until she heard the bed squeak. "Stefan went to get you blood," she said, helping his battered body under the blankets. All the things she was mad at him for seem irrelevant now as he lay helpless in his bed. Whoever had done this was strong and caught him off guard.

"Elena," he mumbled, his eyes falling closed."I'm so sorry I killed your mom."

Her face fell and she collapsed next to him. Even now when he could barely open his eyes, he was apologizing to her. "I know," she said, holding his hand. "You told me earlier." They could worry about all this later, if she even bothered to bring it up again.

"I would never hurt you," he muttered. "Please believe me."

"Don't worry about that right now," she said, stroking his damp hair. "Just rest." She bit her lip but relaxed when he seemed to finally fall asleep just in time for Stefan to return. "He's got some gunshot wounds," she said, getting to her feet and taking the blood from Stefan. "I'm going to heat this up." She left the room, heading downstairs to the kitchen. She poured the blood into a cup before putting it in the microwave, and bursting into tears. Damon was hurt so bad, and it had happened right after he saw her last night. The microwave dinged and she used a paper towel to wipe her face before heading upstairs.

After setting the mug on the end table, she sat next to Damon, sliding her arm beneath his neck and lifting him up, trying not to cause him too much discomfort. "Damon?" she asked, tilting his head. "Wake up." She brought the cup to his lips, hoping the smell would help his instincts to kick in. It wasn't long before he started drinking the fluid slowly and he drowned the contents with ease. Elena set the cup to the side and lowered him back down onto the bed. She noticed the way Stefan was staring at her but she ignored it. She didn't have time for his jealousy right now.

"You should go home," Stefan suggested. "I'll keep an eye on him."

Elena shook her head, curling in the chair next to Damon's bed. "I'm not leaving," she said. "When he wakes up, he's not going to want to see you."


	2. Chapter 2

She could have dozed for hours but she heard the groan from the bed sat up immediately. "Damon?" His eyes opened and focused on her, which was the best sight she had seen all day. "Hi." She squeezed his hand and her smile got bigger when he squeezed it back. Thank god for vampire healing. The swelling had gone down quite a bit in his face and she knew that once he was wake he'd be okay. "How are you feeling?"

Damon managed to raise an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"Sorry," she said, blushing. "That was a dumb question." At least he was able to make with the comments. He was getting back to himself and she couldn't ignore the relief that was washing over her body.

He struggled to push himself up and Elena slid an arm around his back. "Thanks," he said, leaning against his head board.

"Hungry?" she asked, resting a hand on his leg. It had to be hard for him to accept her help, when he was so used to be the strong one and in control of the things around him. But she was glad he hadn't kicked her out yet, or made any rude comments to her. She also knew that he didn't want Stefan taking care of him.

Damon shook his head. "Did you take the bullets out?"

Her heart dropped. She was supposed to take them out? "Oh my god," she said, in horror. "No I didn't." She wondered how much damage she had caused by not taking them out, but no one told her they had to come out. Damon hadn't been conscious enough to tell her that the bullets needed to be taken out, and she hoped he'd be okay.

"We got to take them out," he said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed to push his body up. "It'll hurt worse if we don't."

Once again her arm was around his waist and she was helping him to the bathroom. "One sec," she said, going back to the lock his bedroom door. She knew what he needed and her heart was racing as she prepared for what she was about to do. With a calming breath, she headed back to the bathroom. "I don't know how I'm going to do this." She wasn't a doctor; she had no professional experience for this kind of thing.

"There's only two," he said, handing her the tweezers. "Just grab the bullets tight and pull. It's going to hurt, but don't stop."

Elena bit her lip but she began the daunting task of extracting the two bullets and with Damon's instructions, she was able to tug them both free from his flesh. She dropped the tweezers on the counter before carefully wiping the little bit of blood away from the holes that were already healing. "You alright?"

Damon nodded. "Just need rest," he said, swaying a little on his feet.

Her hands took residence against his hips as she helped him steady himself. He needed blood and she knew that. It hit her like a ton a bricks how bad he needed to have nourishment. "Damon," she said, moving her hair to one side. "You have to feed."

"I will," he answered, shaking the dizziness from his head. "Just need a day to heal."

"Damon," she said, once again, before lifting his gaze to hers. "You need human blood, right now. And I'm offering you mine." There was human blood downstairs, but somehow she thought hers would be better for him. It would help him heal faster.

He shook his head, weakly trying to push her away from him. "I could never do that," he said. "It would change everything between us. I would never be able to let you go, Elena."

She knew the consequences for allowing Damon to feed on her. It would be hell with Stefan. She had known for some time that Damon had feelings for her, more than just friendship, and he had all but just admitted it. "You fed off Caroline," she said. She had seen the marks he had put on Caroline, and how painful they looked. She had also seen how easily he threw her out like she was nothing.

"That was different," Damon said, shaking his head. "She was nothing, just food. I used her."

Elena bit her lip before gently grasping his hand and bringing it to her cheek. "You're not going to get better if you don't feed," she said, staring up at him. She couldn't use Caroline as an example or anyone else he had fed off of. She was so much more to him than food and she knew it.

He moved closer to her, stroking her jaw bone lightly. "Elena, you don't know what you're asking," he whispered. "You have no idea what it would do to me."

She stared at his open expression as he gave her a chance to back out of the situation and she felt the shift inside of her. She lifted her head to press her lips against his and the slight pressure she felt in return was enough to ease her mind. She slid an arm around his neck as she hugged him tightly to her, only pulling back to pull air into her lungs. "I'm serious, Damon," she panted, leaning her forehead against his.

His lips carefully caressed her pulse point sending shivers down her spine as he slipped a knee between hers. "Elena," he whispered, his fangs gently slipping into her flesh.

She moaned in pleasure and tossed her head back as she clutched him against her. It was like nothing she had ever felt before, not like she thought it would be. She had been prepared for pain, but she hadn't prepared for it to feel this good.

Damon's knees shook from exhaustion and emotion as he lowered them to the soft rug on the floor. He was being careful as to how much blood he pulled from her, keeping his focus on her heart rate. She whimpered his name as one of her long legs wrapped around his hip, and he affectionately licked the wounds closed on her neck. His body was already feeling years better as he rested his weight on his arms so he could stare at her flushed face.

Elena's eyes fluttered open and she smiled a little. "Feel okay?" She could feel the blood pumping in her ears as she processed what had just happened to her. Everyone called him a monster, but she knew better. He could control himself and make sure that he didn't hurt her when he was feeding.

"More than okay," he answered, getting to his feet, slowly helping her up as well. "What now?"

Elena fixed her shirt and licked her lips. "I have to sit for a minute," she said, moving around him to head to his bed before she passed out. She stared at his body, that was almost void off all bruises and the cuts that were marring his face were almost gone, as were the bullet holes. "You look much better." She was amazed how fast his body was healing.

He kept himself away from her as he stared into her eyes. "Stefan isn't going to like that you let me bite you," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"I know," she said with a sigh. Damon was keeping his guard up and not bringing up the fact that she kissed him, or enjoyed his bite. He didn't want to make a thing out of it if it wasn't important right now. "It's definitely not going to be a pretty conversation." After a moment she got to her feet and approached him. "I wasn't playing games with you Damon. I just… it had to be the right time to tell Stefan."

Damon relaxed as their hands linked together. "I'm not going to be second best to anyone, Elena," he said, softly. "Never again."

She knew what he was really saying. He wasn't going to share her with Stefan, so she was either all in or she was out. "I promise you that it won't be like that," she said. "I need you to trust me and let me handle it." She kissed his cheek softly. "I've got to go home and take care of a few things, but I'll see you later?"

He nodded and leaned down to kiss her softly. "Be careful," he said.

She smiled and stole another kiss before she left the room. Her heart was hammering against her rib cage as she made her way downstairs, hoping she could avoid Stefan for the time being. She'd have to face him sooner or later, but she sighed in relief when she got to her car with no encounters. She needed a little time to think before she had this talk with Stefan.

The drive home was uneventful, unlike her thoughts that were causing a train wreck in her brain. Her phone vibrated when she locked her front door behind her and she smiled seeing Damon's name. 'Miss you already'. She remembered when she used to look forward to those messages from Stefan, but she had been feeling the spark fade for some time now. Her phone vibrated again, this time from Stefan, saying he wanted to talk to her for a few minutes. She knew she should say no and wait a little bit, but her thumbs had a mind of their own and typed yes. She changed her clothes, slipping a collared shirt over her head that would work with her hair to cover Damon's mark.

There was a knock on her door not two minutes later and she groaned before heading downstairs to answer it, revealing Stefan. She smiled at him and headed to his car with him. She buckled up as he headed away from her house. "You okay?" she asked, watching him out of the corner of her eye.

"I'm fine," he answered. "Damon seems to be better."

"Good," she said, as they parked at the cemetery where her parents were buried. She knew Stefan had reservations about her and Damon, and now he had every right to be, but that didn't make any of this easier.

"Elena," he said, softly. "I know something's wrong."

"Let's walk," she suggested, as they both got out of the car and made their way through the paths. "Nothing is wrong, but I do have to tell you something." She could do this. She was a strong person, she just hoped Stefan could handle it and not freak out. She turned to face him as they paused in the middle of the path. "Damon and I kissed, by accident I guess." She felt a little bad that she had glossed over her kiss with Damon because it was anything but an accident, but she didn't want to rub it in Stefan's face.

"Kissing isn't an accident," he said, looking away from her. "You used to hate my brother but I can see he's won you over."

"It just happened," she said, shaking her head. "This hasn't been going on for awhile, Stefan. It just happened and I'm being honest with you about it." He didn't say much of anything and she could see the distant look in his eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Me too," he said, pulling her into a hug.

Elena hugged him tightly and when the hug seemed to go on a little too long, she got worried. "Stefan?" Nothing could have prepared her for the searing pain that shot through her body as his fangs tore into her neck, right over Damon's mark. There was no use in trying to push him away from her and the trees started spinning before she felt herself drop to the ground.

Stefan pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number before laying it next to her head. "Hi beautiful," came Damon's voice.

Elena felt tears slid down her cheeks as Stefan disappeared. "Damon…" she choked out, trying to reach the phone, but any movement made her head spin even more.

"Where are you?" he asked and she could picture him already out the door.

She swallowed and sniffled. "Grave…"

"I'm on my way." And the line went dead. She relaxed against the grass as she allowed her eyes to close. Damon was on his way. He'd get to her in time before something else did.


	3. Chapter 3

Damon kicked open the door to his house, Elena cradled against his chest. "Stefan!" he yelled. "I need bandages." He headed upstairs, carefully depositing Elena on his bed. "Wake up, Elena," he said, his fingers slowly moving her hair from the deep bite of her neck. He couldn't believe that she had lost so much blood already and wasn't dead, but he was very thankful.

Stefan appeared in the doorway with the bandages he had asked for. "What happened?" he asked, worriedly coming to Elena's side.

"She's lost a lot of blood," Damon answered, swabbing the two puncture wholes. "She's been in and out the whole ride, babbling about stupid things that don't make sense. Her necklace is missing and she couldn't tell me what happened." Someone knew about her necklace and did this to toy with them, or him. He wasn't sure if Stefan was involved yet, but they had called him, not Stefan.

"She called you?"

Damon sighed. "Sort of," he said, meeting his brother's gaze. "New player in town maybe." He was already running through the list of people that would do this kind of thing and Katherine was at the top. Could she be back in town? Trying to screw with his head? This didn't seem like Katherine's M.O though. Katherine kidnapped her prey and tortured them, not leave them around in cemeteries.

"I'm not sure," Stefan said, shaking his head. "She needs to go to the hospital."

The silence was broken when a groan escaped Elena's lips and Stefan left the room. "Elena?" Damon asked. "Open your eyes, baby." Her heart was still beating irregularly and incredibly fast, but she was talking. That was a good sign.

"Damon," she whimpered in confusion. "What…"

"You've lost a lot of blood," he said, gripping her hand. "Do you remember who bit you?"

Her eyes were unfocused and she seemed to be in another world. "Bit?" She struggled to sit up, but Damon prevented her. "How bad?" Her memory was a jumbled mess. She couldn't remember the last few hours, and if the mumblings he had heard in the car were any indication, he knew something was wrong with her, more than the loss of blood.

"You should be fine," Damon said, as Stefan joined them with another necklace in his hand. Typical Stefan. More concerned about Elena being compelled then surviving the mess she was in right now.

"Can I be alone with my girlfriend?" he asked.

Damon clenched his jaw but got to his feet, waiting for Elena to ask him to stay, but it never happened and he allowed Stefan to take his place. He felt sick as he watched Stefan slip the necklace around her neck and a goofy grin appeared on Elena's face. This was not good.

Damon paced back and forth the length of the porch and his fingers twirled Elena's cell phone. He had no choice as he pulled it out and dialed the witch. She picked up on the second ring and he jumped right in before she could hang up on him. "I know I'm not your favorite person, but I need your help. Something is wrong with Elena." There was no response on the other end for a moment, but Bonnie told him to stop over. He hung up and stared at the door for a moment before he headed to his car. He hated leaving Elena alone, but she'd never get help if he didn't leave.

Bonnie was on her front porch waiting for him as he pulled in and she ran down the steps to meet him. "What happened to Elena?"

"She's been bitten by a vampire," Damon said, folding his arms. "She lost a lot of blood. Whoever bit her knew that her necklace had vervain in it, and they took it. She's very vulnerable right now." He paused pinching the bridge of his nose. "Stefan gave her a new one I think, but something is still wrong. She's not herself."

"Why'd you ask me?" Bonnie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"She's your best friend," Damon said. "And it's not her fault your grandmother died. It's mine. So please help her." The witch had no reason to want to help him, but he hoped she could get over it and help Elena. Her powers were the only ones strong enough to get into Elena's mind like that and fix whatever was wrong.

Bonnie stared at him for a moment and nodded. "I just need to grab some things."

Damon paused when he returned home, feeling the shift in the air around him. He smelled the coppery and metallic taste of blood in the air, specifically Elena's, and he headed upstairs, Bonnie hot on his heals, finding her in Stefan's room. His heart would have stopped if it was beating as he watched Stefan feed off of the poor girl, and before he could react, Stefan dropped to the ground, clutching his head. Damon glanced at Bonnie who was chanting quietly and he wasted no time slamming his fist into Stefan's temple, knocking him out cold.

"Stefan's the one that bit her?" Bonnie asked, in shock before coming to her friend's side. "Elena let him?"

"Told you that something was wrong," Damon said. "Stefan compelled her, made her crazy and no I don't know why." He wasn't sure that it had been Stefan; he only had a faint suspicion. He never imagined his brother would go this far to get what he wanted, but it had been confirmed moments ago.

"Stefan…" Elena whimpered, and it pierced his undead heart to hear the broken sound coming from her lips.

"It's Damon and Bonnie," the witch said, touching Elena's hand. "Elena?"

"It hurts," Elena said her eyes fluttering open. "Make it stop."

Damon stared at her for a moment before he scooped her up, taking her back to his room. He left her with Bonnie as he went back to get his brother, dragging his body downstairs to the cellar. He stared at Stefan for a long moment before heading back upstairs. "How is she?"

Bonnie looked up at him. "I broke the compulsion," she said. "I can't do much for the bite. I'm not strong enough yet." The bite had been pretty nasty, and deep. Elena was going to be feeling that for a few days. He could help her, but he doubted that's what she needed right now.

"Thanks," he said, softly, sitting beside the sleeping girl.

Bonnie got to her feet. "I'm going to head out," she said. "You know I don't like you but I know you love her. And she's got a soft spot for you. So don't hurt her."

Damon narrowed his eyes as the witch left but he calmed himself when Elena started whimpering from the bed. "Elena?" he whispered, sitting next to her shifting body.

She seemed to relax slightly and she stared up at him. "Damon," she said, softly. "What happened?" Her eyes were clearer now, and he could see that she was still in some pain. He wished he could take that pain away, but at least she was getting back to herself. That's all he could ask for really at this point.

"Right now, just get some sleep," he said. "We'll talk about it later." He gripped her small hand between his and kissed her knuckles. "I promise." She needed to recover from the blood loss, and she didn't have the energy to fight with him as she passed out once again.

Sometime before dawn, Elena began whimpering as well as tossing and turning beneath the sheets. Damon had taken up residence along side of her, his back against the headboard, stroking her hair softly. The nightmares hadn't stopped since she had fallen asleep, but the time between them increased when he was comforting her.

"Stefan," she pleaded, causing him to wince. After everything that happened, she was still after his brother. "Please…no. Don't… please don't hurt me."

Or not. His heart went out to her as he shook her shoulder gently. "Elena." Tears slid out of her eyes as she cried out in her sleep and he slid an arm under, gently lifting her up to rest against his chest. "Wake up sweetheart," he said, stroking her cheek.

Elena pushed against his hard chest. "Please…"

"It's me, Damon," he said soothingly. "You're safe now. No one is going to hurt you." He could kill his brother for making Elena weak. She was a strong woman, and she could handle almost anything that was thrown at her, but Stefan had broken her down, and the anger that Damon felt towards his brother was intense. It was even worse than finding out about Stefan's betrayl with Katherine.

His words penetrated her mind and she relaxed against him with a shudder. "Sorry."

"Nonsense," he said, hugging her tightly. "You haven't slept much. Go back to sleep."

"No," she said, pushing him back slightly. "I want to know what happened to me. The truth."

Damon sighed and swung his legs over the side of the bed. "Stefan bit you," he said. "Took your necklace, made you forget that he hurt you and turned you into his personal snack. He called me from your cell phone so I could find you, but when I brought you back here, you wanted to be with him. The witch came over to break the compulsion so I could help you."

"Oh god," Elena said, her hand going to the bandage over her neck. "I remember… you got hurt and we…" A deep blush crept across her face. "We kissed and I told Stefan about us, but then it's all a big a blur." She swallowed and stared at him, worrying creasing her brows. "How are you feeling?" she asked, peering over his shoulder to see his chest and abdomen, which were fully healed now.

"Told you I would be fine with some rest," he said, turning toward her. She still showed signs of worry, even when she was the one that was hurt.

"Where's Stefan?" she asked.

"He's locked up," Damon said, grabbing her hand. "He'll never hurt you again, I promise." He leaned forward to kiss her forehead tenderly as she leaned against him easily. "I'll take care of it." And he would hold her at night to chase away the nightmares, and one day, he knew she'd be sleeping peacefully along side of him.


End file.
